RAVI RELEASED FROM JAIL AFTER JUST 20 DAYS

Dharun Ravi, the former student at Rutgers University in New Jersey who outed his gay roommate, allegedly leading to his suicide, is a free man after just serving 20 days in jail.

Last month, Ravi was found guilty of 15 counts of spying on roommate Tyler Clementi via a remote webcam and streaming the footage of him being intimate with another man on the internet in September 2010.

Clementi, who was in effect outed without his consent, soon after jumped from a bridge to his death.

Ravi was sentenced to 30 days in jail, three years probation, 300 hours of community service, a $10,000 fine, and counselling on cyber bullying and alternate lifestyles.

Some activists, already outraged that Ravi only received 30 days prison time, are furious that he was let go on Tuesday for good behaviour before serving the full sentence.

“Dharun Ravi’s walk out of jail after only 20 days is practically a Monopoly game’s ‘get out of jail free’ card — a travesty of justice,” commented Steven Goldstein, chairman and chief executive of Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest LGBT organisation.

Shane Windmeyer from the Campus Pride student organisation told the Los Angeles Times that he was “deeply disappointed and remains conflicted over the punishment in this case”.

He urged colleges and universities across the country “to take greater accountability for the safety of LGBT students and actively discourage the bystander behaviours that attributed to this tragedy”.

Ravi has apologised for his actions but still plans to appeal the sentence. Prosecutors are also appealing, believing that his sentence should have been harsher.

Federal immigration officials have confirmed that they will not deport Ravi to his homeland of India.